A split-screen of partisanship is set to dominate headlines in the House this week: Action on defense legislation that lawmakers like to find common ground on, contrasted with an attempt to hold the attorney general in contempt, which has split along party lines.

Contempt push: The House contempt effort for Merrick Garland stems from the Justice Department’s refusal to hand over audio of President Joe Biden’s interview with former special counsel Robert Hur. Biden has asserted executive privilege over the audio, and DOJ says it has cooperated by handing over the transcripts of the interview.

On Tuesday morning, Garland hit back at the push in a Washington Post op-ed, denouncing what he called “baseless, personal and dangerous” attacks on the DOJ.

Both the Judiciary and Oversight panels advanced contempt resolutions last month, but the floor votes were delayed as Republicans figured out if they had the votes. At noon Tuesday, the House Rules Committee will meet to tee up the contempt votes, as well as …

NDAA action: More than 1,300 amendments have been filed to the annual National Defense Authorization Act, and the Rules Committee is charged with sorting out which of those will get a vote on the floor.

Keep an eye out for hot button amendments on abortion in the military, NATO, Ukraine, Israel and Gaza, as well as budget toplines and issues surrounding diversity, climate and transgender troops. Grab the coffees and keep the Celsius supply stocked: A late night is expected.

Primaries continue: Maine, Nevada, North Dakota and South Carolina will see primary elections Tuesday. Here are some races we are watching:

Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) has the backing of both former President Donald Trump and Speaker Mike Johnson as she faces Catherine Templeton, who has support from former Speaker Newt Gingrich and longtime GOP South Carolina Rep. Joe Wilson. With a third candidate in the race, Bill Young, there is the possibility of a runoff.

Rep. William Timmons (R-S.C.) faces state Rep. Adam Morgan, who chairs the state-level Freedom Caucus. Timmons is trying to counter Morgan’s support from nine of his conservative House colleagues, along with Sen. Mike Lee of Utah. Timmons has backing from Trump and Johnson, and he cut a radio ad with Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), Jim Jordan (R-Ohio).

Trump made a late endorsement in the Nevada Republican Senate primary of Sam Brown, who appears to have the edge over Trump’s former ambassador to Iceland, Jeff Gunter. The winner would be trying to unseat incumbent Democrat Sen. Jacky Rosen (R-Nev.) in the key swing state.

A group of House Democrats is launching a new task force to respond to the possibility of former President Donald Trump’s return to office.

The group is reacting to the so-called Project 2025, a policy road map for the next presidential administration compiled by the conservative Heritage Foundation. Democrats have sought to turn the blueprint and its government overhaul proposals into a foil as campaign season ramps up.

“This stuff is going to be coming at us at lightspeed. And if we are on our heels and reacting to it, we could lose our democracy. So we’re going to need to be ready to confront it in real time. And those plans need to begin now,” said Rep. Jared Huffman (D-Calif.), one of the lawmakers spearheading the effort.

Democrats want their task force to be a hub for members of Congress, advocacy groups and others to coordinate and respond to a future Trump administration — and to raise awareness during the campaign. Huffman said it would be composed of lawmakers from across the caucus like Reps. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), Mark Pocan (D-Wis.), Diana DeGette (D-Colo.), Ted Lieu (D-Calif.) and Nanette Barragán (D-Calif.).

Huffman stressed he believed President Joe Biden would still win reelection, but acknowledged “it would be extreme political malpractice to not be prepared for what’s coming.”

“If Trump wins, they’re telling us more clearly than anything we’ve ever seen what they’re going to do. We just need to understand it and take it seriously,” he said.

House GOP leaders are not pursuing restrictions on abortion pills in their latest funding measure, a substantial concession to swing-district Republicans ahead of Election Day.

Republicans in the chamber unveiled their spending bill Monday evening that covers federal agriculture programs and the Food and Drug Administration, as they work to pass a dozen partisan funding measures before August recess. Unlike last year, the legislation would not overturn the FDA’s decision in early 2023 that allows mifepristone abortion pills to be sold at retail pharmacies and delivered by mail.

Forgoing the mifepristone restrictions is an early sign GOP leaders are toning down their most divisive funding proposals amid pushback from centrist Republicans. That may not be uniform, however, as Speaker Mike Johnson has alsocommitted to using the spending bills to go after the Justice Department and state-level prosecutors following former President Donald Trump’s felony conviction.

Politically vulnerable GOP incumbents have been pressing their leaders to leave out the abortion pill language and other controversial social policies, which prevented House leaders from passing five of the 12 funding bills last year. And House Appropriations Chair Tom Cole (R-Okla.) said he had “a frank discussion among the Cardinals” who chair the 12 funding subpanels about reconsidering the policy restrictions that derailed last year’s attempts.

“Let the chips fall where they may. But I’m hopeful that we’ll realize that some of the things that didn’t work last time probably won’t work this time,” Cole said.

It’s not totally over for conservatives who have pushed for the rider, though. The Oklahoma Republican noted that amendments offered during committee markups could add controversial policies, even if they’re not included in initial bill text.

The restrictions on abortion pills, along with steep funding cuts to agriculture programs, foiled repeated passage attempts by both then-Speaker Kevin McCarthy and Johnson.

Now, as they reattempt that mission ahead of the Sept. 30 shutdown deadline, House Republican leaders are hoping passage of all 12 funding bills would strengthen their negotiating stance with the Senate and the White House. Bipartisan deal-making talks will likely begin in earnest after Election Day, with both chambers expected to punt on funding that expires Sept. 30.

Rep. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) has invited former President Donald Trump to speak with Senate Republicans on Thursday, according to an email sent to members on Monday.

“I believe it will be helpful to hear directly from President Trump about his plans for the summer and to also share our ideas for a strategic governing agenda in 2025,” Barrasso, the Senate GOP conference chair, wrote to Republican senators.

The meeting will occur outside the Capitol campus. It was first reported by NBC News.

Senate Republicans have plenty to coordinate on with Trump ahead of the fall campaign as the party tries to take back the White House and Senate in November. The conference is working closely with Trump in key Senate races after a 2022 cycle marked by Trump’s occasionally discordant endorsement choices, and Trump gave GOP senators a boost on Sunday by endorsing Sam Brown in Nevada’s contested primary this week.

While a tough map for Democrats this year means the Senate GOP can probably flip the chamber by beating incumbents in one of two red states, Ohio and Montana, if the party wants a larger wave it will have to ensure Trump and Republican candidates can work together in five key battlegrounds: Nevada, Wisconsin, Michigan, Arizona, and Pennsylvania. And Trump will have to help Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Rick Scott (R-Fla.) prevail in their own reelections.

Not to mention that Trump is currently eyeing three sitting GOP senators as potential running mates: J.D. Vance (Ohio), Tim Scott (S.C.) and Marco Rubio (Fla.). And if he should win in November, he’ll likely have lots of sway over who will replace Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell next year after the Kentucky Republican steps aside from the conference’s top spot.

Which means there’s a lot on the line as the current class of Senate Republicans hold their first large-scale meeting with the former president.

And despite his presumptive presidential nomination, Trump remains a divisive figure in some corners of the party. Several GOP senators have not endorsed his White House bid, others have questioned his ability to win the general election over the past year and most rejected his attempts to overturn his loss in 2020.

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), a prominent member of the Judiciary Committee, is raising questions about an interview Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito gave to The Wall Street Journal’s editorial page in July.

In that interview, the conservative justice argued that “no provision in the Constitution gives [Congress] the authority to regulate the Supreme Court — period.” He gave the interview shortly after the same publication allowed him to refute a then-unpublished ProPublica report that Alito accepted a luxury fishing trip to Alaska paid for by a prominent GOP donor.

“I note that the Supreme Court is the only place in all of government where issues of this nature have no place or means of investigation or resolution,” Whitehouse wrote in a letter to Alito released Monday. “So far, my questions regarding these events seem to have disappeared into a black hole of indifference.”

The latest written communication comes after Alito pointedly declined to recuse himself from pending cases involving former President Donald Trump and others related to the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. Those recusal requests from Democrats came after multiple reports in The New York Times that Alito family residences displayed flags with links to the 2021 Capitol attack.

Whitehouse and the Judiciary panel’s chair, Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), also unsuccessfully sought a meeting with Chief Justice John Roberts to discuss recent ethics concerns that have swirled around the nation’s highest court.

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg signaled Friday that he is willing to testify about his prosecution of former President Donald Trump — but not next week as House Republicans proposed.

Leslie Dubeck, Bragg’s general counsel, sent a letter on Friday to House Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan, saying that the DA’s office is “committed to voluntary cooperation” after the Ohio Republican requested Bragg testify on June 13. Jordan wants Bragg to appear in front of his subcommittee investigating GOP claims of “weaponization” against conservatives within the government.

“That cooperation includes making the District Attorney available to provide testimony on behalf of the Office at an agreed-upon date,” Dubeck wrote in the letter, a copy of which was obtained by POLITICO.

But Dubeck rebuffed Jordan’s request for Bragg to testify on June 13, saying that there are “various scheduling conflicts” and that the trial court proceedings are currently scheduled to continue through July 11, when Trump is scheduled to be sentenced. Testifying publicly next week, she added, “would be potentially detrimental” to a “fair administration of justice” in the case. Trump has also vowed to appeal his conviction on 34 felonies in the hush money case.

Jordan had said before Friday’s letter that he was willing to subpoena Bragg if he refused to testify. He also, in a brief interview earlier this week, questioned why Bragg would need to wait until after Trump’s sentencing to testify.

The testimony request for Bragg and Matthew Colangelo, who helped prosecute Trump, is the latest step in a months-long House GOP investigation into Bragg’s office. It’s also one prong of a larger effort by Republicans to use their thin majority to look into Trump’s prosecutors.

Russell Dye, a spokesperson for Jordan, said on Friday that when it comes to what’s next “everything is on the table.”

Bragg’s office is requesting that House Judiciary staff work with them to figure out a new hearing date and provide more clarity on “the scope and purpose of the proposed hearing.” Jordan, in his letters inviting Bragg and Colangelo to testify, wrote that the hearing would “examine actions by state and local prosecutors to engage in politically motivated prosecutions of federal officials,” including Trump’s prosecution in New York.

House Republican leaders are privately gauging support for legislation that would let both current and former presidents move a state case to federal courts, four Republicans familiar with the effort confirmed to POLITICO. It already seems dead in the water.

Republicans have vowed to use their slim majority to avenge former President Donald Trump after he was convicted on 34 felony counts in a Manhattan hush money trial last week. Since that was a conviction on state charges, Trump could not pardon himself even if he’s elected president. But Trump is also facing charges in Georgia, which the legislation would allow him to move to federal court.

But it’s not clear if the bill — spearheaded by Rep. Russell Fry (R-S.C.) — has the votes needed to clear the House, according to three of the people, who all spoke on condition of anonymity. And even if it could pass that chamber, it’s almost certainly dead in the Democrat-controlled Senate.

“I’ve heard a lot of folks are reaching out to leadership and saying they will vote no,” said one battleground Republican, granted anonymity to discuss the internal conversations. “I don’t believe they have the votes to pass it.”

As another centrist Republican viewed it: “I think there’s a lack of support for it” and that they are making sure leadership is aware. “I heard a bunch of folks have said they’re reluctant.”

If leaders do feel it has enough support in their two-seat margin — a big if, at this point — it could come to the House floor as soon as next week. A schedule for next week, released by Majority Leader Steve Scalise’s (R-La.) office, didn’t mention the bill, though it noted that other legislative items are possible.

Fry’s bill gives a current or former president or vice president the ability to move civil or criminal state cases to a federal court. It passed the Judiciary Committee last year but has stalled since then. Conservatives, however, started building public pressure on leaders after Trump’s conviction to move toward a floor vote.

Axios first reported the ongoing whip effort.

During a closed-door GOP conference meeting earlier this week, Johnson laid out a three-pronged plan for how Republicans would use their majority to go after Trump’s prosecutors, including Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, who brought the hush money case against Trump.

In addition to legislation like Fry’s, Republicans are also expected to use an upcoming government funding fight and ongoing investigations to target Trump’s prosecutors.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will address Congress on July 24, a person familiar with the plans, granted anonymity to discuss the matter, confirmed to POLITICO.

The speech comes after the four top congressional leaders — Speaker Mike Johnson, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) — formally issued the long-awaited invite late last month.

Locking down the July 24 date caps off weeks of behind-the-scenes talks on Capitol Hill, where the exact date had remained in flux even after leadership formally issued the invitation to Netanyahu last week. They initially looked at June 13 but that conflicted with a Jewish holiday and Johnson’s office stressed at the time that the date was not finalized and still being negotiated.

Netanyahu’s speech on July 24 comes as a growing number of congressional Democrats and the Biden administration have become increasingly critical of Israel’s handling of the war against Hamas — namely the high toll of civilian deaths.

Progressives have also publicly called on President Joe Biden to take a firmer stance. Some in Congress, including Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), have said they will skip Netanyahu’s speech next month, while other top Democrats have suggested they wouldn’t have issued the invitation.

More than two dozen Republican leaders in Virginia’s 5th Congressional District are publicly urging former President Donald Trump to reconsider his endorsement of Freedom Caucus Chair Bob Good’s primary opponent.

Rick Buchanan — chair of the 5th District Republican Congressional Committee and a Good supporter — spearheaded the open letter, which was signed by 24 other Republican leaders in the district, to “strongly urge” Trump to reconsider his endorsement of state Sen. John McGuire.

“We hope President Trump reconsiders his ill-advised endorsement and stands with the Grassroots America First supporters of Congressman Bob Good,” the Republicans wrote.

The primary in the deeply red district will take place June 18. It’s grown increasingly contentious, with some polls suggesting Good could be in trouble.

And while Good has been campaigning in the district with members of the Freedom Caucus and other allies, he also has House GOP colleagues from multiple corners from the conference campaigning against him.

Trump endorsed McGuire late last month and has continued to take swipes at Good, releasing a new video this week in which he called the Virginia Republican “someone who will stab you in the back like he did me.” Good and Trump’s camps also got into a recent back-and-forth over the former using yard signs that invoke the latter’s name.

Good first supported Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’s presidential bid in the GOP primary. He subsequently endorsed Trump after DeSantis, a former House Freedom Caucus member, ended his presidential bid.

But the 25 Republicans also wrote that the former president’s endorsement of McGuire “may, in fact, hurt the strong support of conservatives for President Trump in the Fighting 5th that he will need in November.”